


Coughing and Cuddles

by spocksbrowneyes



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, M/M, Sick Spock (Star Trek), Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27181091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spocksbrowneyes/pseuds/spocksbrowneyes
Summary: Spock is sick, and Jim take care of him.
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock
Comments: 5
Kudos: 118
Collections: Star Trek





	Coughing and Cuddles

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, thank you for reading. This fic was prompted by Ace Anderson. This is not at all my best work, so be advised that I may end up deleting and redoing this fic or make edits at the very least. If you have a prompt that you want me to do, go here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26919508

Spock was willing to bet that this was the worst time he’d ever gotten sick. He wasn’t one to use hyperbole and all that, so either the fever he had scrambled his brain already, or he was right. One of the two. True, he didn’t get sick too often, but when he did… suffice to say all hell broke loose. Spock had felt off for the past few days and began coughing the day before, but he’d woken up that morning, it was a lot worse. He wasn’t even going to start on the migraine had and felt dizzy when he stood up along with colder than he usually did. At first he thought it might have been because instead of sleeping with Jim as usual, he’d slept in his own room. That was on account of what was going on as he didn’t want to risk getting him sick too. Upon shuffling into the bathroom, and flicking on the light, he knew that he would be suffering today. His eyes had light shadows beneath them, and his cheeks were a bit flushed. It hurt to breathe, and he nearly cut himself while shaving his face because he started coughing. Spock wasn’t much of a morning person despite the fact that he woke up at 05:00 every morning, but the feeling of weakness and the sheer desire to go back to sleep was not normal.

However, he wasn’t willing to let it get in the way of work, so, he went anyway. Jim had noticed that he seemed a bit off on the walk over to the bridge. He had been going on about the happenings with the ship and the upcoming political summit, which he didn’t have to go to this time. Spock on the other hand, who was normally walking fluidly with his posture fairly rigid, seemed like it was taking effort to follow along with Jim’s train of thought and his gait seemed a bit off balance. Jim was very in tune with how Spock normally acted, he was his husband after all. So, noticed the change, brushing fingers with him in a kind of nonverbal comfort. He also made a mental note to pull him aside when he had the chance as the halls were already starting to fill up with people getting to their shifts. 

\---

Jim kept glancing at Spock, he was definitely not doing great. He looked peaky, his skin was paler than usual save for the blush on his cheeks. He was straining to look at the monitors, and there was discomfort prickling from his side of the bond. Jim looked at his own reports and bit at his lip. He could finish them later, after all, he was smart he could find a way to get Spock alone without embarrassing him. It was the simplest of plans, act as something came through on his PADD, get up (but not urgently), tell Sulu he has the conn, and tell Spock to come with. Simple. Jim was about to execute his plan when something blipped and actually did come through. 

Only, it was at Uhura’s station, “Capitan, we’ve received a message from Starfleet. They want to have a meeting with you and Commander Spock in five minutes.”

Jim turned to her, “Tell them that we’ll be there.”

She nodded, sending a message back.

“Mr. Sulu, you have the conn,” Jim said, standing up with Spock following behind as they left the bridge.

Jim nudged Spock playfully, “What’dya think we did now?”

Spock didn’t really react, he just kept walking, focusing on each footfall. He knew that when it came to Jim, his cover was probably blown, but it didn’t stop him from trying to fool him. His head was throbbing and the last thing he wanted to do was sit and listen to whatever admiral they’d pissed off this time drone on about everything they’re doing wrong. Spock hated being bored and being bored while he was sick generally resulted in him falling asleep, which was something he couldn’t do in the middle of a meeting.

Jim brushed their fingers together, the touch making Spock jump a bit. Jim couldn’t help but notice the unnatural clammy feeling of Spock’s hand.

“Are you okay?”

Spock whipped his head around to look at Jim, “I am fine.”

Jim noticed the subtle wince at the abrupt movement, “You sure? You don’t look so good.”

“I am of adequate health, Jim,” Spock insisted.

Figures the moment after he said so he was attacked by a rough bout of coughing. It made his chest burn and his throat hurt worse. Jim noticed that he brought a hand to his sternum, like putting pressure on it would make it hurt less.

Jim raised his eyebrows, “You’re fine, huh?”

Spock gave him an unimpressed look, it didn’t work quite as well as usual taken by how miserable he was.

Jim smiled, putting an arm around him and rubbing his shoulder, “C’mon, we don’t want to be late.”

\---

Jim kept up what he’d been doing with Spock on the bridge; keeping a close eye on him without making it super obvious. He looked exhausted and now that they were sitting next to eachother, Jim could see how hard he was trying to appear as if nothing were wrong. However, he wasn’t doing great at that now, they were maybe half-way into their shift and he looked like he hadn’t slept for a week. Spock had almost nodded off a couple times, and while Jim felt bad about it, he kept nudging his calf with his foot so he would stay awake. 

Spock thought that the morning had been bad, and he was proving himself wrong. His head was throbbing and it seemed as if the room was spinning. He felt nauseous and cold enough that he was trying to suppress a shiver. It really didn’t help that the admiral they were speaking with was one of the louder people on the board. After what seemed like an eternity, they bid farewell and signed off. They hadn’t even gotten in trouble, they were just going over some updates to the ship’s computers systems. Neither of them spoke up about it being a topic Scotty would benefit more from than them however, as they just wanted it to be over.

Jim let out a big sigh of relief and raked a hand through his hair, “We’re free!”

He hopped up and grabbed the PADD he’d brought along with Spock’s, “And you’re free of work for the rest of the week.”

Spock’s brow furrowed a bit, “That is not-”

He cut himself off by coughing, it sounded a croupy to be honest.

“Spock, you need to take care of yourself. You’ve seemed really out of it today,” Jim said softly, “I’m gonna make you see Bones but you have to take it easy. I’m gonna leave Sulu in charge for the rest of my shift so I can watch you, m’kay?”

“Your duty is to your crew, Jim,” Spock rasped, standing but whacking his knee on the edge of the table by accident.

Jim put a steadying hand on his shoulder, “Spock, you’re part of that crew. And I promised you through sickness and health, after all.”

Spock’s looked horrible, but his eyes were bright for a moment. The feeling, the reminder that Jim was always there for him, even through his stubborn antics, it made him feel warm and fluttery. It was like that since the beginning of their friendship all the way to now. It never got old in the slightest. 

Jim smiled and kissed Spock’s too-warm forehead, “Let’s go.”

\---

Jim had set the heat of their room to Vulcan standard as soon as they walked in, and had Spock go rinse off because he was kind of sweaty. He had set himself up to do his work on the small couch in their room and it wasn’t long before Spock shuffled over and flopped down next to him. Jim turned off his PADD and set it aside, pulling Spock closer to him.

Jim combed Spock’s hair with his fingers, “Do you want a blanket? You’re shivering.”

Spock shook his head, “That would result in a heightened body temperature in you as-”

Spock cut himself off by sneezing three times in a row and flinched in a way that reminded Jim of a cat.

Jim used his foot to drag the blanket out from under the coffee table, he grabbed it and draped it over his stubborn half- Vulcan, “There you go.”

Spock tugged the blanket a bit tighter around his shoulders, “Thank you.”

Jim smiled, “Not a problem.”

It wasn’t long before Spock’s eyes slipped shut and Jim picked up a PADD to work on reports again. He kept checking on Spock, puting his hand to his forehead in case his fever was any worse, kneading his shoulders whenever he stirred. He’d fallen into just scratching his scalp gently, the ebony strands getting a bit messy. Jim sent off his final report, setting the PADD aside but feeling a warm, weak hand on his wrist.

He looked down, “Hi there.”

Spock mumbled something into his chest, snuggling closer. 

Jim went back to scratching his head, “Do you like that?”

Spock nodded and Jim smiled as he felt his bondmate start purring softly.


End file.
